Nathan

Eovaldi

The deal, which was agreed to on Tuesday, was officially announced by the Rangers on Thursday evening after they cleared a spot on their 40-man roster. Eovaldi has been a rock in the Rangers’ rotation for the last two seasons and will continue to be an upper-echelon fantasy option despite his underwhelming strikeout totals. His current average draft position sits just outside the top-200 players overall, which seems perfectly fair for what you’re getting here.

Eovaldi returns to the Rangers where he’s spent the last two years, pitching to a solid 3.72 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 298/89 K/BB ratio across 314 2/3 innings (54 starts). He re-joins a crowded Texas rotation mix that also includes Jacob deGrom, Cody Bradford, Kumar Rocker, Tyler Mahle, Jon Gray, Jack Leiter and Dane Dunning. The 34-year-old righty lacks the strikeout upside of upper-echelon fantasy starters, but he’s been a relatively durable innings-eater for Texas. He’s a borderline top 50 starting pitcher for fantasy purposes heading into next season.

Specifically, Rosenthal points to the Red Sox and Mets as teams who are both firmly in the bidding for Juan Soto but are also intent on rebuilding their starting rotations this offseason. The Blue Jays could be another team. He believes that any of them, should they miss out on Soto, would outbid the Orioles in an attempt to lure Burnes away. Rosenthal mentions that Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Flaherty could be fallback options for Baltimore if Burnes does indeed go to another team.

The Braves have been paired with Eovaldi since the start of the offseason, and it makes sense, given their usual preferences. The Rangers would also surely like him back, and there’s been some talk of a possible return to Boston. There’s enough of a market that he could commit soon, but he also might receive additional interest once Corbin Burnes and Max Fried are off the board.

Eovaldi declined his $20 million option with the Rangers for 2025 and will be one of the more sought after hurlers on the market. Atlanta has needs in its rotation even before considering the potential loss of Max Fried, so this fit makes a lot of sense on paper. Eovaldi has had issues in terms of durability, but he’s been very effective whenever he’s been on the bump.

Eovaldi was in the final year of his contract and is likely hoping to sign a multi-year deal given his age (34 years old) and prior injury history. The Rangers have said they have an interest in bringing the right-hander back, so it’s possible a reunion might be soon, but, for now, Eovaldi will enter free agency.

It’s worth pointing out that Eovaldi was facing a lineup that might not rank among the best in the Pacific Coast League — with apologies to Taylor Ward — but Eovaldi probably doesn’t care. The right-hander was a rare reliable option for Texas in 2024, and while it wasn’t his best season nor close, a 3.80 ERA and 166/42 K/BB is nothing to sneeze at. Eovaldi has a $20 million player option that vested since he reached 300 innings over the last two years, but he will likely decline that option and hit free agency.

Eovaldi jumped over the 162-inning mark to qualify for the ERA title for just the third time in his career. He’s not expected to start again Sunday, so he’s probably done for the year at 11-8 with a 3.96 ERA and a 161/41 K/BB in 163 2/3 innings. He’ll likely decline his player option with the Rangers and land another multiyear deal in free agency.

The Rangers won anyway, so it wasn’t such a bad night for Eovaldi. He also saw his 2025 player option kick in tonight, though he’ll probably decline it; he could stay with the Rangers on a one-year, $20 million deal, but he’ll probably be able to command multiple years on the open market. Eovaldi will face the A’s next Tuesday in what could be his final start of the season.

The D-backs were all over Eovaldi, with nine of their 16 balls in play checking in at over 100 mph. Besides the three homers, Eovaldi also surrendered a 415-foot shot from Corbin Carroll that would have gone out of 23 ballparks. Eovaldi fell to 5-5 with a 4.81 ERA in 10 starts since the All-Star break. He’s given up 12 homers over 58 innings during that span, compared to 10 homers in 94 innings in the first half. He’ll start at home against the Blue Jays next time out.